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Six Minutes With EPIC CEO
Clarissa Mitchell

By Nadine Bartholomew, MBA

I asked EPIC CEO, Clarissa Mitchell, a few questions about the need for adult changing tables in the communi-
ty. Here is what she said…

Q: EPIC’s direct support staff have been talking about adult changing tables. What are they?
A: According to the companies that manufacture and sell them, adult changing tables provide safer transfers,
comfortable positioning, and a secure space for caregivers to aid adults with special needs or disabilities who
may need assistance with changing adult diapers due to incontinence problems or getting dressed while in the
community. They also help to reduce the possibility of back strain and other injury to family caregivers and di-
rect support professionals.

Q: Are public adult changing tables really necessary?
A: Most people don’t think about how adults with disabilities use public restrooms, but if they did they would
likely envision the person and their support staff both squeezing into a bathroom cubicle to use the facilities and
clean-up afterwards. Given the size of most public restrooms this is a very uncomfortable procedure and likely
compromises the privacy of the person supported if the bathroom door needs to stay open. By contrast, having
public facilities equipped with screened adult changing tables, able to support 120 pounds or more, will elimi-
nate this problem.

Q: Why is this issue just coming to light?
A: In the past, adults with disabilities often spent less time outside their homes or service-based facilities. How-
ever, as they become more fully integrated into the community the special needs of adults with disabilities are
being identified and addressed. Space and cost may also present challenges to wide spread adoption of these
facilities, but I believe that many handicap accessible or family styled restrooms in malls, airports, and commu-
nity centers can be easily outfitted with adult changing tables.

Q: Do you believe that these facilities will become mainstream one day?
A: I remain cautiously optimistic. The fact that Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed a bill into law that requires
public restrooms in Arizona to have changing tables for adults gives me hope that other regions will follow his
example.

Nadine Bartholomew, MBA, is the Marketing Director for EPIC. Nadine has over 18 years of experi-
ence leading community outreach, cause marketing, and corporate communication efforts at both
non-profit and for-profit organizations in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area.

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